Cushioned carton



J. E. WALSH Nov. 199 1929.

CUSHIONEDCARTON Filed July 11. 1927 l 7 nf...

Patented Nov. 19, 192@ y UNITED STATES PATENT oFElcE 1 JOHN E. WALSH, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 SELF LOCKING SCHURMANN I COMPANY, A CORPORATION 0F ILLINOIS CUSHIONED CARTON Application led July 11, 1927. Seria1No. 204,710.

sides with suiiicient force to break an egg in the event that the blow came directly upon the egg.

The object ot the present invention is to provide a simple and novel expedient that lo will not add greatly to the. cost of a carton,

by means of which eggs packaged in the carton will be effectively cushioned,

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, :tor a full understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection lwith the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a top plan view oi an egg carton arranged in accordance with the present invention, open and ready to receive the eggs, only a fragment of the cover being shown;

f Fig, 2 is a top plan view of the opposite end oi the carton, closed; Fig. 3 is a section, on a larger scale, taken approximately on line 3 3 or llig. l; Figs: is a section taken approximately on line ,1l-4 of Fig. 3; and Figa 5 is a central longitudinal section through one end of the carton.

Referring to the drawings, l represents the rectangular body and 2 the cover ot a well known orrn of egg carton, namely a carton which, with the exception of the longitudinal partition, is made trom asingle blank. The trontwall 3 of the carton is lower than the rear wall to which the cover is attached, and has connected thereto a false top whose i9 width is equal to that oi the carton and which 15 duce'a series of leaves joined to the attaching strip and to the front wall of the carton by triangular corner pieces 6. When the leaves are swung down at right angles to the bottom of the carton, only the triangular' 59 corner pieces reinaln in a horizontal plane.

It is customary to provide a central longitudinal partition interlocked with the transverse partitions formed by the leaves, for the purpose of dividing the interior of the carton into two rows of compartments. In

accordance with the present invention l soconstruct this longitudinal partition that it provides eective cushions for the eggs. The present invention is not concerned with the details of the cartonhowever; the specific form ot carton illustrated being fully dis" dosed in ranas NOS. 1,115,476 and 1,124,266 dated respectively November 3, 1914 'and January l2, 1915.

rlhe longitudinal partition, instead of being a narrow iiat strip as in the aforesaid patents, may conveniently be in the form of a wide blank of cardboard or the like comprising two central panels 7 and 8, each having approximately the shape of the ordinary single partition, these panels or sections being symmetrically disposed with respect to a longitudinal center line, together with cushioning wings. As is usual in these longitudinal partition niernbers, slots 9 are cut inwardly through those edges ot the sections 7 and 8 that are the lower edges ot the partition when the latter is set into the cartonn These slots may be said to divide the lower marginal portion et each section into ieet. rlhe wings are in the vform of extensions l0 to the feet; each wing being oi such a width as to tit readily between two adjacent transverse partitions in the carton.

The outer ends ot the wings are connected together by narrow longitudinal pieces ll which, with corresponding narrow longitudinal extensions l2 at the ends of the blanlr 'form a continuous longitudinal' marginal strip alerigl each longitudinal edge ot the blanlru iin using the combined longitudinal partition and cushion it isl `folded along its longitudinal center and bent along longitudinal lines extending along the lower or outer ends of the feet, so that the wings project laterallyin opposite directions from the dony ble partition memben The device is then applied to the carton in substantially the same way as the 'ordinary longitudinal partition. rlChe inner ends ot the wings are carried down to the bcttomof the carton as shown in dotted of the transverse partitions near the sides of lines in Fig. 3, but the outer ends cannot the carton. A move down into the carton because the con- In testimony whereof, I sign this specificanecting strips 11 between consecutive wings tlon.

.5 overlie the transverse partitions or the trian- JOHN E. WALSH.

gula-r corner pieces 6 and serve as stops to y limit the downward swinging movements of the outer ends of the wings. The condition of the parts is now as shown in dotted lines l,

10 in Fig. 3 and also as shown in Fig. 1. When 75 eggs, such as indicated at A, A inFlg. 3 are p aced, in the carton, they engage the wings and the latter, being iexlble, conform to the contour of the eggs and become swings in which the eggs are suspended above the botg so tom of the carton as shown in full lines in Fig. 3. It will be seen that the connecting pieces between the outer ends of the wings rest on vthe broad llat 'triangular corner pieces which may be said to form parts of the transl l g5 verse partitions, and therefore there is no danger that the weight of an egg will cause the connecting pieces to be cut in two as might be the case if these connecting pieces rested directly on the sharp edges of the transverse -90 partitions.

It will therefore be seen that if a carton be set down heavily, there is no danger of breaking the eggs because they rest upon springlike supports. Furthermore, a li ht blow that would otherwise still be su cient to crack an egg, a ainst the side of the carton, is absorbed by tle inward yielding of theside wall, either wholly or in part, before being '35 transmitted to the egg lying inwardly from loo the point at which the blow is struck; and

therefore the egg is protected against breakage.

It will `further be seen that my improved '40' construction gives added strength to the cary 1o5 ton, not only because of the stii backbone that the double longitudinal partition may be said to constitute, but also because the wings may t between the transverse partitions and thus form braces for the latter. y 110 While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms 115 l and arrangements which come within the definitions of my invention'constituting the appended claim.

I claim: In combination, a carton having a series 120 of transverse partitions, of a flexible sheet much wider` than the carton and comprising two continuous marginal strips and connectl ing pieces between the strips, each connectingA piece being approximately as wide as the dis- 125 tance between two of the transverse partitions, said sheet being folded upon itself'at the middle to produce a central longitudinal partition crossing the transverse partitions, 05 while'said strips restupon the upper edges .130 

